Designing for the future

Since we first announced our pledge in 2018 to develop all our packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025, Amcor has made strong progress toward our recyclability goals. As we move closer to 2025, our R&D teams are keenly focused on developing alternative packaging solutions for the small remaining portion of non-recyclable products in our portfolio, while our Commercial teams continue diligently supporting our customers as they work to incorporate more recyclable packaging solutions into their own portfolios.

The recycle-ready metric tracks how much of our packaging is designed in a way that enables it to be recycled using current technologies, though infrastructure for collecting, sorting and recycling may not yet be widely available. This definition aligns with guidance from industry groups such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastics Economy Initiative, Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX), the Consumer Goods Forum and the Association of Plastic Recyclers.

In FY23, we had developed recycle-ready solutions for 89% of our flexible packaging portfolio, by square meter (sqm). The year-over-year evolution of this metric shows exciting progress in innovation as we introduce an increasing proportion of new trial-ready solutions that are recycle-ready to our existing lineup of commercialized recycle-ready solutions.

In FY23, we were proud to launch a range of new recyclable and recycle-ready products. For example:

• Amcor and Löfbergs, a leading Nordics coffee company, joined forces to revolutionize coffee packaging with a new, more sustainable packaging solution that prioritizes recyclability and environmental impact. Leveraging Amcor's AmPrima™ Plus recycle-ready packaging, Löfbergs offers their customers a packaging solution that can be recycled in flexible polyolefin recycling streams. The new solution directly addresses growing consumer demand for a more sustainable coffee experience, both in terms of the product itself and its packaging. It builds upon Löfbergs' commitment to sustainability, demonstrated by their earlier transition to bio-based polyethylene and now to an easier to recycle polyolefin-based packaging.

• Following an extensive process involving many trials, our new Amcor HealthCare™ SureForm Pro Forming Films are now available in a high-performance, recycle-ready option. The new film allows our customers to benefit from the reduced thickness of split nylon-containing films, with the added benefit of being recycle-ready.

• Our new PrimeSeal™ and DairySeal™ Thermoformable Films are recycle-ready options that offer meat and dairy brands excellent packaging performance and improved circularity of packaging. The products, which are certified as recyclable by Institute cyclos-HTP, are recyclable within polyethylene (PE) streams* and offer up to 80% lower carbon footprint compared to existing PA/PE thermoforming films according to ASSET™ LCA results. Suitable for fresh and processed meat and fish, as well as hard cheese, the new packaging is heat resistant up to 100°C and is made with low ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) content without compromising barrier and shelf-life for perishable foods.

• Amcor’s PrimeSeal™ Eco-Tite™ R shrink bags offer a new innovative solution that is a lighter, high-barrier shrink bag that is free of PVDC and other contaminants that would prevent it from being recycled. Eco-Tite™ R is recyclable in return-to-store programs and will qualify for advanced recycling when available in Australia in 2024 through Amcor’s partnership with Licella. The packages are also 6% lighter at the same thickness than the current PVDCbased bags, providing a carbon footprint improvement in addition to recyclability.

• Amcor’s HealthCare™ AmSky™ Blister System is a recycle-ready thermoform blister system designed for the packaging of medications and dietary supplements. It is formulated using high-density polyethylene (HDPE), one of the most recycled plastics in the world, and presents a more sustainable and carbon-footprint optimized alternative. AmSky™ has received WorldStar awards in both the Health and Personal Care, and Medical and Pharmaceutical categories, recognizing the benefits that can be delivered to a range of consumers and packaging needs.

• Amcor Rigid Packaging continued ongoing innovation in the development of recyclable designs for small-format PET containers, which have historically been categorized as not recyclable because they slip through sorting machinery at recycling centers. In one such innovation, we developed a bottle design that maximizes the collapsed container’s width, allowing it to collapse in a controlled way that makes the container wide enough to move through the recycling process along with larger items. Amcor submitted several patent applications related to our small-format recyclability work in FY23.

*Countries where recycling for this new packaging is available at scale, according to Institute cyclos-HTP certificate: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia.